AO3 Evaluation Euan works as a barista in a busy coffee shop. He is introduced to a new colleague called Ettie. As they shake hands, Euan thinks Ettie seems ‘standoffish’ and not very interesting. However, after a while Euan thinks Ettie is more friendly. Later on, Euan describes Ettie to a friend: ‘Ettie was OK but she’s a typical boring person. I don’t think she’s going to do very well in this job.’ 1. Identify two examples from the scenario that demonstrate person perception. (2 marks) 2. Explain how the concept of person perception can help us understand Euan’s comments. (3 marks) 3. Discuss the extent to which person perception is a useful way to understand Euan’s comments. (3 marks) Apply it It’s never too early to remind you to make your evaluation points PET-friendly. If you do get asked to discuss a concept, explanation, behaviour, etc., the question will be worth 3 marks. So, stick to one point and develop it like this: • ‘P’ is the evaluative point (e.g. a strength or weakness) – start by saying what it is. • ‘E’ is your explanation of the point (also called elaboration), which could include an example. • ‘T’ refers to a concluding sentence that begins with something like, ‘This shows that…’ or ‘This means that…’ – here you explain what the evaluative point tells us about the theory, explanation, etc. REVISION BOOSTER Person perception is about how we try to ‘work out’ what someone is like. Key concept 5: The role of cognitive scripts A1: Cognitive approach One strength is we can make person perception more accurate and objective. We often inaccurately judge someone’s personality when we first meet them. These may be based on stereotypes (what they ‘should’ be like), which is undesirable because stereotypes are usually negative. Instead, we could make sure we take the time to properly get to know someone without making instant ‘snap’ judgements about their personality. Therefore, by knowing how person perception works, we can resist the tendency to negatively stereotype others. Another strength is evidence to support the role of memory scripts. If you are presented with a routine event where the steps are in the wrong order, you usually recall them in the correct order because the correct order matches the script stored in memory (Bower et al.). For instance, a ‘getting ready for college’ script might be presented as ‘get dressed, get out of bed, wake up’, but you recall it as ‘wake up, get out of bed, get dressed’. This finding supports the argument that cognitive scripts strongly influence how we remember everyday events. One weakness is we may assume a script is guiding behaviour when it isn’t. When someone behaves in a way consistent with a script, they might be doing so because they are imitating other people and therefore following external cues rather than a script (e.g. when eating in a restaurant). Also in person perception, my judgement of a stranger might be guided more by how others respond (external cues) than by information stored in memory. Therefore, scripts and internal processes are not always important influences on behaviour. 21 Copyright: Sample material
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